1. The Middle Colonies

2. The Middle Colonies
New york and New Jersey
• By 1660 there were northern and
southern English colonies in
North America. The Dutch
controlled the land between the
English colonies.

3. The Middle Colonies
New york and New Jersey
• The trading posts belonging to the Dutch West India Company along the
Hudson River grew into the colony of New Netherland. The largest
settlement, New Amsterdam (later called New York City), became a major
seaport for shipping goods to and from the Americas.
• Anyone who brought along at least 50 settlers to work the land was given a
large estate along the Hudson River. These wealth landowners were called
patroons. They had their own courts and laws. Settlers provided the labor
and gave a share of their crops to the patroon. Families from the
Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Finland settled in New Netherland.

4. The Middle Colonies
New york and New Jersey
• Because of New Netherland’s valuable seaport and river
trade, England wanted the land. England sent a fleet of ships to attack
New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor, was
unprepared and surrendered. The colony became a colony owned
and governed by the Duke of York, brother of King Charles II. The
Duke of York renamed New Amsterdam to New York. The colonists
were allowed to continue to choose their own religion and to own
land.

5. The Middle Colonies
New york and New Jersey
• The Duke of New York gave the southern part of the colony to
Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret around 1664. They
established the proprietary colony of New Jersey. A
proprietary colony is one in which the owner, or proprietor, held
all the land and controlled the government. When it did not
make expected profits, New Jersey was sold. New Jersey
turned back into a royal colony instead of a charter colony.
• It was named after an island near to England.

6. The Middle Colonies
Pennsylvania and Delaware
• In 1680 William Penn accepted land in
America to pay off a debt King Charles
owed his father. This land, the new colony
of Pennsylvania, was the size of England.
Penn belonged to a group of Protestant
dissenters called Quakers. The Quakers
were pacifists, people who refused to use
force or go to war. The were also tolerant of
other peoples views.
• Quakers believed: (a) each person could
experience religious truth directly, (b)
church services and officials were
unnecessary, and (c) everyone was equal
in God’s eyes;

7. The Middle Colonies
Pennsylvania and Delaware
• William Penn designed and supervised
the building of the city of
Philadelphia, which is called the “city of
brotherly love.” He also wrote the city’s
constitution. The Native Americans
respected William Penn because he
believed the land belonged to them and
that they should be paid for it. Penn
advertised the settlement.
English, Welsh, Irish, Dutch and German
settlers arrived.

8. The Middle Colonies
Pennsylvania and Delaware
• The lower counties of the Pennsylvania colony
formed their own government and operated a
second colony supervised by the governor of
Pennsylvania. The lower counties were called
Delaware.

9. The Middle Colonies
• The Middle Colonies
were made up of:
Delaware
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania